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where he meets with fome antiquities, fuppofed to be the works of the Ptolemies. After quitting this city, Mr. Bruce and his retinue pafs the Waldubba, or valley of byanas. "This territory is entirely inhabited by the monks, who, for mortification's fake, have retired to this unwholesome, hot, and dangerous country, voluntarily to fpend their lives in penitence, meditation, and prayer. This, too, is the only retreat of great men in difgrace or in difguft. These first shave their hair, and put on a cowl like the monks, renouncing the world for folitude, and taking vows which they refolve to keep no longer than exigencies require; af ter which they return to the world again, leaving their cowl and fanctity in Waldubba.

"These monks are held in great veneration; are believed by many to have the gift of prophecy, and fome of them to work miracles, and are very active inftruments to ftir up the people in time of trouble. Thofe that I have feen out of Waldubba in Gondar, and about Kofcam, never fhewed any great marks of abstinence; they are and drank every thing without fcruple, and in large quantities too. They fay they live otherwife in Waldubba, and perhaps it may be fo. There are women, alfo, whom we should call Nuns, who, though not refiding in Waldubba, go at times thither, and live in a famili - arity with these faints, that has very little favour of fpirituality; and many of thefe, who think the living in community with this holy fraternity has not in it perfection enough to fatisfy their devotion, retire, one of each fex, a hermit and a nun, fequeftering them felves for months, to eat herbs together in private upon the top of the mountains. Thefe, on their return, are fhewn as miracles of holinefs,-lean, enervated, and exhaufted. Whether this is wholly to be laid to the charge of the herbs, is more than I will take upon me to decide, never having been at these retirements of Waldubba."

*This man was governor of Tigré, in the plenitude of power on Mr. Bruce's arrival; but was afterwards overpowered and banished. He poifoned the laft, and wholly ruled the present king.

Mr. Bruce luckily arrived at Gondar juft at the time when the king and the ras Michael, his prime minifter, had obtained a complete victory over a formidable rebel named Tazel. This defcription of the king's entrance into his capital, is worthy notice.

"The next day, after the engagement, the army marched into the town in triumph, and the ras at the head of the troops of Tigre. He was bareheaded; over his fhoulders, and down to his back, hung a pallium, or cloak, of black velvet, with a filver fringe. A boy, by his right ftirrup, held a filver wand of about five feet and a half long, much like the ftaves of our great officers at court. Behind him all the foldiers, who had flain an enemy and taken the fpoils from them, had their lances and firelocks ornamented with fmall shreds of fcarlet cloth, one piece for every man he had flain.

"One thing remarkable in this cavalcade, which I obferved, was the headdrefs of the governors of provinces. A large broad fillet was bound upon their forehead, and tied behind their head. In the middle of this was a horn, or a conical piece of filver, gilt, about four inches long, much in the shape of our common candle extinguishers. This is called kirn, or horn, and is only worn in reviews or parades after victory. This I apprehend, like all other of their ufages, is taken from the Hebrews, and the several allusions made în fcripture to it arife from this practice:—

I faid unto fools, Deal not foolishly; and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn' Lift not up your horn on high ; fpeak not with a ftiff neck t’—' For promotion cometh,' &c. But my horn fhalt thou exalt like the horn of an' unicorn' And the horn of the righteous fhall be exalted with honour." And fo in many other places throughout the Pfalms.

-Next to thefe came the king, with a fillet of white muflin about three

+ The crooked manner in which they hold their neck when this ornament is on their forehead, for fear it should fall forward, perfectly fhews the meaning of speaking with a ftiff neck, when you hold the horn on high, or erect like the horn of the

unicorn.

inches broad, binding his forehead, tied with a large double knot behind, and hanging down about two feet on his back. About him were the great officers of ftate, fuch of the young nobility as were without command; and after thefe, the household troops."

The fmall pox raged at Gondar on Mr. Bruce's arrival; and the priests having failed to expel the diforder by their prayers, our author, who knew fomething of phyfic, undertook a few patients, particularly Ayto Confu, fon of Ozoro Efther, who was then wife of the ras.

Mr. Bruce's introduction to the minifter and the king is curious. "We went in and faw the old man fitting upon a fofa; his white hair was dreffed in many fhort curls. He appeared to be thoughtful, but not difpleafed; his face was lean, his eyes quick and vivid, but feemed to be a little fore from expofure to the weather. He feemed to be about fix feet high, though his lameness made it difficult to guefs with accuracy. His air was perfectly free from conftraint, what the French call degageé. In face and perfon he was liker my learned and worthy friend, the count de Buffon, than any two men I ever faw in the world. They must have been bad phyfiognomifts that did not difcern his capacity and understanding by his very countenance. Every look conveyed a fentiment with it: he feemed to have no occafion for other language, and indeed he fpoke little. I offered, as ufual, to kifs the ground before him; and of this he feemed to take little notice, ftretching out his hand and shaking mine upon my rifing. "I fat down with Aylo, three or four of the judges, Petros, Heikel the queen's chamberlain, and an azage from the king's houfe, who whispered fomething in his ear, and went out; which interruption prevented me from fpeaking as I was prepared to do, or give him my prefent, which a man held behind me. He began gravely, Yagoube, I think that is your name, hear what I fay to you, and mark what I recommend to you. You are a man, I am told, who make it your bufinefs to wander in the fields in fearch after trees and grafs in folitary places, and to fit up all night alone looking at the stars

of the heavens: other countries are not like this, though this was never so bad as it is now. Thefe wretches here are enemies to strangers; if they faw you alone in your own parlour, their first thought would be how to murder you; though they knew they were to get nothing by it, they would murder you for mere mifchief." The devil is ftrong in them,' fays a voice from a corner of the room, which appeared to be that of a priest. Therefore,' fays the ras, after a long converfation with your friend Aylo, whose advice I hear you happily take, as indeed we all do, I have thought that fituation beft which leaves you at liberty to follow your own defigns, at the fame time that it puts your perfon in fafety; that you will not be troubled with monks about their religious matters, or in danger from thefe rafcals that may feek to murder you for money.'

"What are the monks?' fays the fame voice from the corner; the monks will never meddle with such a man as this.' Therefore the king," continued the ras, without taking any notice of the interruption, has appointed you baalomaal, and to command the Koccob horfe, which I thought to have given to Francis, an old foldier of mine; but he is poor, and we will provide for him better, for these appointments have honour, but little profit.' Sir,' fays Francis, who was in prefence, but behind, it is in much more honourable hands than either mine or the Armenian's, or any other white man's, fince the days of Hatzè Menas, and fo I told the king to-day.' I Very well, Francis,' fays the ras;

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it becomes a foldier to fpeak the truth, whether it makes for or against himself. Go then to the king, and kifs the ground upon your appointment. I fee you have already learned this ceremony of our's; Aylo and Heikel are very proper perfons to go with you. The king expreffed his furprife to me laft night he had not feen you; and there too is Tecla Mariam, the king's fecretary, who came with your appointment from the palace today. The man in the corner, that I took for a prieft, was this Tecla Mariam, a fcribe. Out of the king's prefence, men of this order cover their

heads,

heads, as do the priests, which was the reafon of my mistake.

"I then gave him a prefent, which he fcarce looked at, as a number of people were prefling in at the door from curiofity or bufinefs.

"I went afterwards to the king's palace, and met Aylo and Heikel at the door of the prefence-chamber. Tecla Mariam walked before us to the foot of the throne; after which I advanced and proftrated myfelf upon the ground. I have brought you a fervant,' fays he to the king, from fo diftant a country, that if you ever let him efcape, we fhall never be able to follow him, or know where to feek him.' This was faid facetiously by an old familiar fervant; but the king made.no reply, as far as we could guess, for his mouth was covered, nor did he fhew any alteration of countenance. Five people were flanding on each fide of the throne, all young men, three on his left, and two on his right. One of thefe, the son of Tecla Mariam, (afterwards my great friend) who stood uppermoft on the left hand, came up, and taking hold of me by the hand, placed me immediately above him; when feeing I had no knife in my girdle, he pulled out his own and gave it to me. Upon being placed, I again kiffed the ground.

The king was in an alcove; the reft went out of fight from where the throne was, and fat down. The ufual questions now began about Jerufalem and the holy places where my country was? which it was impoffible to defcribe, as they knew the fituation of no country but their own-why I came fo far-whether the moon and the stars, but especially the moon, was the fame in my country as in their's?—and a great many fuch idle and tiresome questions. I had feveral times offered to take my prefent from the man who held it, that I might offer it to his majefty and go away; but the king always made a fign to put it off, till, being tired to death with ftanding, I leaned against the wall. Aylo was faft afleep, and Ayto Heikel and the Greeks curfing their master in their heart for fpoiling the good fupper that Anthule, his treafurer, had prepared for us. This, as we afterwards found out, the king very well knew, and resolved to try our pas

tience to the utmoft. At laft, Ayto Aylo ftole away to bed, and every body else after him, except those who had accompanied me, who were ready to die with thirst, and drop down with wearinefs. It was agreed by those that were out of fight, to fend Tecla Mariam to whisper in the king's ear, that I had not been well, which he did, but no notice was taken of it. It was now paft ten o'clock, and he shewed no inclination to go to bed.

"Hitherto, while there were ftrangers in the room, he had spoken to us by an officer called Kal Hatze, the voice or word of the king; but now, when there were nine or ten of us, his menial fervants, only present, he uncovered his face and mouth, and fpoke himfelf. Sometimes it was about Jerufalem, fometimes about horfes, at other times about shooting; again about the Indies; how far I could look into the heaven's with my telescopes: and all these were deliberately and circumftantially repeated, if they were not pointedly anfwered. I was abfolutely in despair, and fcarcely able to fpeak a word, inwardly mourning the hardness of my lot in this my firft preferment, and fincerely praying it might be my laft promotion in this court. At last all the Greeks began to be impatient, and got out of the corner of the room behind the alcove, and ftood immediately before the throne. The king feemed to be aftonished at feeing them, and told them he thought they had all been at home long ago. They faid, however, they would not go without me; which the king faid could not be, for one of the duties of my employment was to be charged with the door of his bed-chamber that night.

"I think I could almost have killed him in that inftant. At laft Ayto Heikel, taking courage, came forward to him, pretending a meffage from the queen, and whispered him fomething in the ear, probably that the ras would take it ill. He then laughed, faid he thought we had fupped, and difmiffed us.

"We went all to fupper in violent rage, fuch anger as is ufual with hungry men. We brought with us from the palace three of my brother baalomaals*, and one who had stood to make * Gentlemen of the bed-chamber.

up

up the number, though he was not in office; his name was Guebra Mafcal, he was a fifter's fon of the ras, and commanded one third of the troops of Tigré, which carried fire-arms, that is about two thoufand men. He was reputed the belt officer of that kind that the ras had, and was a man about thirty years of age, fhort, fquare, and well made, with a very unpromising countenance; flat nofe, wide mouth, of a very yellow complexion, and much pitted with the fmall-pox; he had a moft uncommon prefumption upon the merit of paft fervices, and had the greatest opinion of his own knowledge in the ufe of fire-arms, to which he did not fcruple to fay ras Michael owed all his victories. Indeed it was to the good opinion that the ras had of him as a foldier that he owed his being fuffered to continue at Gondar; for he was fufpected to have been familiar with one of his uncle's wives in Tigré, by whom it was thought he had a child, at least the ras put away his wife, and never owned the child to be his.

"This man fupped with us that night, and thence began one of the molt ferious affairs I ever had in Abyffinia. Guebra Mafcal, as ufual, vaunted inceffantly his skill in fire-arms, the wonderful gun that he had, and feats he had done with it. Petros faid, laughing, to him, You have a genius for fhooting, but you have had no opportunity to learn. Now, Yagoube is come, he will teach you fomething worth talking of.' They had all drank abundantly, and Guebra Mafcal had uttered words that I thought were in 'contempt of me. I believe, replied I peevishly enough, Guebra Mafcal, I fhould fufpect, from your difcourfe, you neither knew men nor guns; every gun of mine in the hands of my fervants hall kill twice as far as your's, for my own, it is not worth my while to put a ball in it when I compare with you, the end of a tallow-candle in my gun fhall do more execution than an iron ball in the best of your's, with all the fkill and experience you pretend to.

"He said I was a Frank, and a liar, and, upon my immediately rifing up, he gave me a kick with his foot. I was quite blind with paffion, feized him by the throat, and threw him on the VOL. II.

ground ftout as he was. The Abyffinians know nothing of either wrestling or boxing. He drew his knife as he was falling, attempted to cut me in the face, but his arm not being at freedom, all he could do was to give me a very trifling ftab, or wound, near the crown of the head, fo that the blood trickled down over my face. I had tript him up, but till then had never truck him. I now wrefted the knife from him with a full intention to kill him; but Providence directed better. Inftead of the point, I ftruck so violently with the handle upon his face as to leave fcars, which would be diftinguished even among the deep marks of the fall-pox."

Many of the fucceeding pages are occupied with the progrefs and termination of this difpute, which was not productive of any very ill confequences.

The tenth chapter is wholly employed by a geographical divifion of Abyffinia into provinces, which we must beg to pafs over. In the next, Mr. Bruce defcribes a bloody banquet in Abyffinia, which we have already extracted *.

The king's manner of going and returning from church is curious. "The king goes to church regularly, his guards taking poffeffion of every avenue and door through which he is to pafs, and nobody is allowed to enter with him, because he is then on foot, excepting two officers of his bed-chamber who fupport him. He kiffes the threshold and fide-potts of the church door, the fteps before the altar, and then returns home: fometimes there is fervice in the church, fometimes there not; but he takes no notice of the difference. He rides up ftairs into the prefence-chamber on a mule, and lights immediately on the carpet before his throne; and I have fometimes feen great indecencies committed by the faid mule in the prefence-chamber, upon a Perfian carpet.

"An officer called Serach Maffery, with a long whip, begins cracking and making a noife, worle than twenty French poftillions, at the door of the palace before the dawn of day. This chafes away the hyena and other wild beats; this, too, is the fignal for the king's rifing, who fits in judgment every · * See page 241.

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morning

morning fafting, and after that, about eight o'clock, he goes to breakfast." We cannot pafs over a ceremony of this country**, which Mr. Bruce, in part, has quoted from Alvarez, chaplain to the Portuguese embassy, under don Roderigo de Lima,

"The king had invited don Roderigo de Lima, the Portuguese ambaffador, to be prefent at the celebration of the festival of the Epiphany. They went about a mile and a half from their former ftation, and encamped upon the fide of a pond which had been prepared for the occafion. Alvarez fays, that, in their way, they were often asked by thofe they met or overtook, Whether or not they were going to be baptized?' to which the chaplain and his company anfwered in the negative, as having been already once baptized in their childhood.

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"In the night, fays he, a great number of priests affembled about the pond, roaring and finging with a view of bleffing the water. After midnight the baptifm began. The Abuna Mark, the king and queen, were the first that went into the lake; they had each a piece of cotton cloth about their middle, which was just so much more than the rest of the people had. At the funrifing the baptifm was most thronged; after which, when Alvarez † came, the lake was full of holy water, into which they had poured oil.

"It fhould feem, from this outfet of his narrative, that he was not at the lake till the ceremony was half over, and did not fee the benediction of the water at all, nor the curious exhibition of the king, een, and Abuna, and their cotton oths. As for the circumftance of the oil being poured into the water, 1 will not pofitively contradict it, for, though I was early there, it might have efcaped me if it was done in the dark. However, I never heard it mentioned as part of the ceremony; and it is probable I fhould, if any fuch thing was really practifed; neither was I in time to have feen it at Kahha.

Before the pond a fcaffold was built, covered round with planks, within which fat the king looking towards

* This author calls it a baptifmal ceremony, but Mr. Bruce denies its affinity to baptifm.

the pond, his face covered with blue taffeta, while an old man, who was the king's tutor, was standing in the water up to the fhoulders, naked as he was born, and half dead with cold, for it had frozen violently in the night. All thofe that came near him, he took by the head and plunged them in the water, whether men or women, faying, in his own language, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft.

"The baptifm, Alvarez fays, began at midnight, and the old tutor. dipt every perfon under water, taking him by the head, faying, ' I baptize thee in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoft.' It was moft thronged at fun-rife, and ended about nine o'clock; a long time for an old man to ftand in frozen water.

"The number (as women were promifcuously admitted) could not be lefs than forty thousand; fo that even the nine hours this baptift-general officiated, he must have had exercise enough to keep him warm, if forty thoufand, (many of them naked beauties) passed through his hands.

"The women were stark naked be. fore the men, not even a rag about them. Without fome fuch proper medium as frozen water, I fear it would not have contributed much to the interefts of religion to have trusted a priest (even an old one) among so many bold and naked beauties, especially as he had the first fix hours of them in the dark.

"The Abuna, the king, and queen, were the three first baptifed, all three being abfolutely naked, having only a cotton cloth round their middle. I am fure there never could be a greater deviation from the manners of any kingdom, than this is from those of Abyffinia. The king is always covered; you feldom fee any part of him but his eyes. The queen and every woman in Abyffinia, in public and private, (I mean where nothing is in tended but converfation) are covered to the chin. It is a difgrace to them to have even their feet feen by ftrangers; and their arms and hands are concealed even to their nails. A curious circum

+ Vide Alvarez's narrative in his account of the embally of don Roderigo de Lim2, page 155.

ftance

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